JOHN BUNYAN (1628 - 1688)

Obstinate Preacher

John Bunyan was born in Bedforsdhire, England in
1628. Like Andrew Fuller, Bunyan came from the
working class and understood poverty early in life. His early life included a
good deal of degradation as well as a stint in the army. Even after he had
married, Bunyan was what we would call today a wayward Christian. He later
realized he was no Christian at all. The story is oft told of how Bunyan heard
a sermon one Sunday morning against the evils of Sunday sports. That afternoon,
while playing "cats", Bunyan heard a voice in his heart which said, "Wilt thou
leave thy sins and go to Heaven, or have thy sins and go to hell?" Those words
would not leave him over the next few months. In one of Gods divine
encounters, John Bunyan began to turn from religion in form to Christ in fact.
One day Bunyan tried to join in on a conversation about religion with several
poor women he heard talking as he walked down the street. He thought himself to
be quite knowledgeable about such things so he attempted to reason along with
these godly women. Instead, Bunyan had no idea what they were speaking of. He
wrote:

"Their talk ... was about a new birth, the work of God on
their hearts, also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature.
They talked how God had visited their souls with His love in the Lord Jesus,
and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and
supported against the temptations of the devil." 1

Later those same women introduced Bunyan to their
pastor, John Gifford. While not Baptist, Gifford and the church he pastored
were definitely congregational and definitely not "high church." The church was
comprised of both Congregational and Baptist believers. It was under
Giffords preaching and teaching that Bunyan at last came to Christ.
Bunyan's, Grace
Abounding is his own spiritual biography. In it he tells how
the verse, "He hath made peace by the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20),
finally broke through to his heart and he was truly saved.

Several years (1656) after coming to Christ,
Bunyan began to preach at the same church which Gifford had pastored. He was
above all a preacher who would proclaim God's Word anywhere and everywhere:

"He himself ... went out to preach the Word in the open
air on village greens, in barns, in private houses, and sometimes even in
parish churches. Bedfordshire and neighboring shires are full of traditions of
his preaching, and several Congregational and Baptist churches claimed to have
been founded through his preaching." 2

It was not long before Bunyans willingness
and drive to preach the gospel everywhere got him into trouble. By 1660,
Anglican royalists had stepped up their attacks on non-conformist preachers
(Baptists, Congregationalists, and Puritans in general). It became illegal to
preach in non-sanctioned places. So on Nov 12, 1660, John Bunyan was arrested
for preaching in a field near a farmhouse. Upon his arrest, Bunyan was informed
that if he would apologize to the magistrates and refrain from preaching, he
would be released. Bunyan replied that such a promise was not possible and thus
began a twelve year imprisonment. His refusal to cease preaching reminds one of
Peter and John's reply to the Jewish leaders when they were instructed to
refrain from preaching:

Acts 4:18-20 - "Then they called them in again and
commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and
John replied, 'Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey
you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and
heard.'"

During those 12 years of imprisonment, Bunyan
wrote Grace Abounding, Confessions of Faith, and A Defense of the Doctrine of
Justification by Faith. Ernest Bacon speculates that it was in the last part of
his imprisonment that Bunyan began to formulate his greatest work,
Pilgrim's
Progress.3 Finally, King Charles II released most religious
prisoners including John Bunyan. Bunyan emerged a leader among non-conformist
and the pastor of the church at Bedford. He wouldn't have long to spend with
his wife and seven children, however. On Feb 1675, Charles II changed his mind
and Bunyan along with others was arrested again. This time more legally minded
friends accomplished the release of Bunyan after a short time. On leaving
prison this second time, Bunyan released for publication part one of his
monumental The Pilgrims Progress in 1678.

What may seem like a question for church
historians and no one else is whether Bunyan was really a Baptist at all. The
answer is important to modern Christians as you will see. There can be no doubt
that Bunyan had little use for denominational titles. He once said:

"As for those titles of Anabaptists, Independents,
Presbyterians, or the like, I conclude that they come neither from Jerusalem
nor from Antioch, but rather from hell and Babylon, for they naturally tend to
division."4

In fact, it would probably be safer to call Bunyan
a baptist rather than a Baptist. He was baptized as a believing adult and often
taught that baptism should be administered only to those who had heard and
embraced the gospel. At the same time, Bunyan did not believe that either
baptism or the Lord's Supper should divide true Christians. "Instead of
accenting the differences he emphasized the fundamentals of the faith
which all true believers shared. He defended the gospel as the basis of
Christian unity When he involved himself in controversy, he did so
because he saw a challenge to the gospel itself."5 Bunyan was a
baptist in the sense that he held to what became the foundational tenets of
Baptists. He was committed to God's Word first and foremost; he held to a
congregational form of church government; and he strongly emphasized
justification by faith alone.

Bunyan certainly was in sympathy with the
Particular Baptists in his firm grip on the Doctrines of Grace. We, of what is
sometimes called the Reformed Faith, could learn much from John Bunyan. He was
far more interested in God's glory and man's salvation than he was in
restrictive denominational tags.

By the time of Bunyans death in 1688,
eleven editions of The Pilgrims Progress had been published with over
100,000 copies in print. He left a legacy of many other great books and poems.
None of these, however, are his greatest legacy to us. Bunyans greatest
gift to the church was his demonstration that the Doctrines of Grace are not
static or cold. The gospel is not predestination - it is Christ! Grace is how
God brings us to Christ. Above all Bunyan loved Christ. He preached Christ and
exalted Christ.

"There was first and foremost in John Bunyan a deep
personal love for his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ... Bunyan's books are full
of Christ - His welcome, His unshakable truth, his advocacy for sinners ... His
preaching and writing were Christ-centered, and it was this that carried men's
hearts captive to Christ. If our present day preachers and theologians had the
same emphasis a very different spirit would prevail in both the Church and the
State." 6

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